Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs

This article is written by Avinash Scrapwala, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog.This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

# The Special Voices of the Decade (1971-1980) – 5 # Suresh Wadkar #
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Welcome all to this fifth article in this series where we are discussing Special Voices that made their debut in HFM in the Seventies and carved their own niche on the HFM scene.

Some of them enjoyed success for a little while only to fade away with passage of time. Some of them became popular and continued to remain so for considerable time.

No matter how they fared at the HFM scene, all of them contributed in enriching HFM. All of them provided music lovers with many memories to cherish and savour.

Today we will be discussing about one such talented artist- Singer- who made his debut in 1977 and over the years has given us many memorable songs and who is active even now (I think his latest film song was from ‘Bramhaand Nayak Sai Baba-2016’ and a NF -ghazal album sung by him was released in 2016 in memory of his guru ‘Acharya Jiyalal Vasant’ i.e. ‘Chupke Chupke’) In addition, he is active in singing Marathi and other regional language songs as well.)

In his career spanning almost forty years, he has more than five hundred songs to his credit (if the sources I am referring to are correct). And given the number of songs he has sung I can say that his must be the most prolific artist among all the artists who will be featuring in this series …

Incidentally I get a chance to share one of his songs for our ASAD – 10th anniversary celebrations. And regulars to this blog who have listened to this song ‘Kaale kaale baadal jab bhi chhayenge’ and the male voice in it, I am sure must be still feeling the sweetness, the magic and the melodious range of this voice lingering in their ears still now or for that matter of any songs sung by him leave this impact on the listeners as usual.

***

Suresh Ishwar Wadkar was born on 7th August’1954 in Kolhapur (Maharashtra).
We wish him a belated happy Birthday and healthy and peaceful life ahead…
(Belatedly as I could not finish the write up in time and send it to our editors in time).

Another story of coming from a very humble background and scaling newer heights through sheer dedication, sincerity and perseverance in the field of music.

Suresh Wadkar’s father was a ‘mill worker’ in Sitaram Mills. His father was very fond of music and particularly ‘bhajans’. And the surroundings in which he grown up was traditional and cultural as all festivals were celebrated with fervour and music being an intrinsic part of it.

His father was very fond of ‘bhajans’ and he used to attend many programmes of ‘bhajans’ where Suresh then 4/5 years old used to accompany his father in these programmes of ‘Bhajan’. That is where he got with in all our traditions and cultures and listening to talented singers. And as it happened he was singing something and that was noticed by his father, and thus started his formal training classes in music when he was five only.

His guru from Sangli Shri Digrajkar was then giving him lessons in singing. He advised Suresh’s father to let Suresh continue with music and singing.

When he was eight he come to Acharya Jiyalal Vasant’s gurukul and Acharya ji groomed him into what he is today. He took care of all of his education and all. And looking into his passion when he was only thirteen years old his guru Jiyalal ji advised him to give training to other students in his institute.
Looking at his understanding of music, Acharya ji advised Suresh Wadkar to pursue education and degree in music. Following his guru’s advice Suresh Wadkar joined Prayag Sangeet Samiti and secured his degree of ‘Prabhakar’ in music and later joined ‘Arya Vidya Mandir’ in Mumbai as a ‘Music Teacher.

Suresh Wadkar, naturally, has great respect and admiration for his Guru ji and other disciples at the ‘gurukul’ – his ‘guru bhai’ and ‘guru behen’ and his elder sister i.e. daughter of Acharya ji – Prem Vasant– he speaks about them with great love and passion. And he has in deep sense all the gratitude for whatever his ‘guru ji’ has given to him and that is why after his ‘guru ji’ passed away being an elder among all the disciples he has shouldered the responsibility of his ‘guru ji’s legacy’ in the form of the school of music founded by his guru – ‘Ajivasan’ (this also gives online training in music).

He also started an online music school, called SWAMA (Suresh Wadkar Ajivasan Music Academy), (an innovative initiative) under Ace Open University continue to impart training in music in New Jersey. He, his wife, and his ‘guru sister’ visits every three months to supervise the operations and classes going on there.

and for him ‘music’ is the most difficult and greatest form of art which needs more dedication, seriousness and religiousness in efforts.

He has very high regards towards all the music directors who had given him the opportunity to sing and specially for the Mangeshkars he speaks about them with respect and gratitude. In his interview here one can listen his thoughts and just imagine what kind of a ‘noble’ and ‘pure’ character must be and that is what I think we finds in his voice too.

He was also present in the recent Jaidev Birth Centenary celebrations held at NCPA (NCPA Bandish music festival) Mumbai where our Respected Senior Shri Bharat Bhai was also present.

***

How this ‘anokhi aawaaz’ make his debut in the Hindi Film Industry is another interesting story.

It so happened that in 1970s (in 1976 to be specific) a big musical competition organised by ‘Sur-Singaar Sansad’ was held where participants aspiring to be singers from all over India participated this competition.
However, Suresh Wadkar’s singing impressed everybody and he was awarded ‘Madan Mohan Puraskar’.
Famous music directors like Jaidev, Ravindra Jain, Pt Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Sudhir Phadke and Pt Shivkumar Sharma and Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia (Shiv-Hari) were the panel of the judges who judge the competition and selected the winner.

Ravindra Jain while announcing Suresh Wadkar as winner also announced that he will be singing a song in his next movie and thus happened ‘vrishti pade taapur tupoor’ …

The next opportunity for Suresh Wadkar came straight way from the most respected and talented Music director Jaidev ji who given him the opportunity to sing in ‘Gaman-1978’. Later on, Suresh Wadkar also worked with him as his assistant and sing for him whenever he was given an opportunity to do so.

While assisting Jaidev ji he got to learn many things of music and the nuances of composing music.

Somehow as they say it was destined to be, Lata Mangeshkar is said to have heard about this voice and she was so impressed by his singing that she recommended him to the famous music duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal and also to Khayyam Saab and Kalyanji bhai-Anand ji bhai.

After that, it was no looking back for Suresh Wadkar and he keep getting many opportunities from all music directors ruling the HFM at that time.

***

For me, I have vague memories of this song ‘vrishti pade taapur tupoor’ being frequently heard on radio & loudspeakers and I do like it very much.

Then ‘seene mein jalan’, I remember I liked it very much and may be that was the time when for the first time I must have been got to know about the singer or we among friends must have discussed about this voice (looking my interests in HFM since childhood, I think I can say that).

Then I remember this song from ‘Krodhi’ in 1981 ‘chal chameli baag mein’ was a regular at the ‘Binaca Geetmala’ and it stood 16th in the annual programme of the Binaca Geetmala that year.
However, the next year’s – 1982’s ‘Binaca Geetmala’ in its annual programme saw as many as four songs having Suresh Wadkar’s voice viz. ‘Main hoon Prem Rogi’, ‘Meri qismat mein tu nahin shaayad’, ‘Muhabbat hai kyaa cheez hamko bataao’ all from ‘Prem Rog-1982’ and ‘Megha re megha re’ from ‘Pyaasa Saawan-1981’.

I think with the songs of ‘Prem Rog-1981’ Suresh Wadkar became a household name and almost all of its songs were a huge hit though ‘bhanware ne khilaaya phool’ is my favourite. It is different thing that not this song but the other songs of ‘Prem Rog’ (couple of which I don’t like then), make to the annual ‘Binaca Geetmala’.

Before that we had ‘megha re megha re’ from ‘Pyaasa Saawan’ taking us to reach out the clouds about to rain ‘the message of love’ … and we got soaked in the melodious voice of Suresh Wadkar …

Surprisingly before that we had his voice at number seven of annual ‘Binaca Geetmala-1979’ singing ‘Jijaaji jiaaji honewaale jijaaji’ in which he lent voice for Vinod Mehra in ‘Saajan Bina Suhaagan-1978’.

In 1981 we also have the magical ‘ye aankhen dekh kar ham saari duniya’ from ‘Dhanwan’ which spelled its magic on audience and it was too very popular and is also one of my favourite songs. (and this was his first song to appear on our blog).

After that I remember may be sometime around 1982-83 when I was on a visit to Nagpur (may be for watching the cricket between India and Pakistan at my Uncle’s home, on TV which had just reached us then, and into the old city market I heard this song playing on Radio ‘shaam rangeen huyi hai’ and I was totally taken away by this song. At that time, I was not knowing which movie it was from. Many years I keep searching for this song which I later got to know (I think it was because of this blog only) it was from. It was from the 1981 movie ‘Kaanoon Aur Mujrim’. Once again, a gem of song but not rewarded and forgotten in the midst of other popular songs then.

Also, I cannot forget ‘ae zindagi gale lagaa le’ from ‘Sadma-1983’, so close to our hearts and may have been liked by many many like me.

‘Likhne waale ne likh daale’ from Arpan from the same year was on 19th while meri qismat mein tu nahin shaayad was on 12th in 1983 annual list of ‘Binaca Geetmala’.

Later on, we have ‘aur kyaa ahad e wafaa hote hain’ from ‘Sunny-1984’, ‘saanjh dhaley gagan taley’ from ‘Utsav-1984’, then we have gems of songs from ‘Sur Sangam-1985, popular songs coming from ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili-1985’, ‘Khaamosh sa afsaana paani se likhaa hota’ from the UR – Libaas -1988, ‘sooni sooni ankhiyon mein’ and ‘rakibon se habibon se’ from ‘Laal Dupattaa Mal Mal Ka’, ‘lagi aaj saawan ki phir wo jhadi hai’, ‘surmayi shaam is tarah aaye’ from ‘Lekin-1990’, ‘Dil-1991’, ‘Sangeet-1992’, and there are many.
Many are my favourites too… like ‘tumse mil ke aisaa lagaa’, ‘dhadkan zaraa ruk gayee hai’, ‘husn pahaadon ka’ and many …

And how can I forget ‘hamraahi mere hamraahi’ and ‘aur is dil mein kyaa rakhaa hai’, then I had also watched this movie ‘Yaadon Ki Kasam-1985’ which had ‘Baithh mere paas tujhe dekhta rahoon’.
I also remember ‘chaudhavin raat hai, ab chaand dikha de apna’ from ‘Yaadon Ke Mausam-1990’ which was frequently heard and popular then …

Not to forget ‘chappa chappa charkha chale’ and ‘chhod aaye ham wo galiyaan’ both from ‘Maachis-1996’.

There are many … and I would like to note here that the list of his Marathi songs is another long list where I have my favourites and many gems of songs which he has sung in Marathi.

The list goes on and on and we cannot list them all (at least the popular ones) here due to space constraint (and if I have missed to mention any prominent one I would like readers to forgive me for that).

After coming into the contact with this blog initially I had shared few of his songs (in 2012-13) like ‘Goron ki naa kaalon ki’ (from Disco Dancer, which I think was also quite popular in those years), then ‘Kabhi ajnabi thhe (Title Song), and ‘Surmayi shaam’ from ‘Lekin’ which remains to be posted yet. And there are many of songs still to be posted on the blog and the reason may be that since his career started at the end of seventies and picked up later in the eighties, we still have a long way to go to represent his songs on the blog (as of now 57 only).

So, I will stop the listing them here and come back to the today’s post now …

For this post, selecting a song was very difficult because as I said above, we still have a long way to go and there are many songs to choose from.

However, I had this song ‘Ram Dulari maike gayi’ 🙂 from ‘Meri Biwi Ki Shaadi’ in my mind since many years and I had decided that I will select only this song and not any other. (And it was from a movie of seventies and nostalgic for me too 🙂 )

But, while I was browsing through the filmography of Suresh Wadkar songs I came across this movie and when I listened to this song I was totally taken by it and it started growing on me as I listened to it again and again. This was from the movie ‘Bhayaanak-1979’ composed by Usha Khanna.

I had not watched this movie earlier and even now. From the star cast I can guess that this song is lip synced on screen by Ravi Kumar, a newcomer, who was paired with Razia Sultana, another newcomer. The picturisation of this song and its singing by Suresh Wadkar makes it very special.
As the movie didn’t fare well at the box office, I think this and other songs of this movie were forgotten easily.

‘Bhayaanak-1979’ was directed by S.U. Saiyed for ‘AVM Arts International’.

It had Mithun Chakravarty, Sadhoo Meher, Niloo Phule, Chandrashekhar, Mushtaq Merchant, C.S. Dubey, Jagdish Raj, Shaheen Khan, Sushila Raut, Annu Dhawan, Sadhna Khote, Hamid Rakesh, Major Anand, Fatima, Mannu Arora, Master Danny Jr., Master Abid, Master Anis, M. Miquel, and Madan Joshi and Om Shiv Puri were the other star cast of this movie.

Ranjeeta had a special appearance in this movie. Sharad Saxena makes a Guest appearance in this movie.

The movie introduced Ranjan Garewal, Shashi Ranjan and a ‘fresh romantic pair Ravi Kumar and Razia Sultana’ (as per the movie titles 😊)

Warsi Ahmed Siddiq was the Chief Assistant Director of this movie.

Harish Choudhry was the editor of this movie, and he was assisted by Sudhir Deshpande.
M.Maroof wrote the script of this movie. Munir Shah was the Dialogue Director.
Dialogues were written by Madan Joshi, while the story was by the AVM arts story department.

It was passed by Censor Board on 23.08.1979.

It was a suspense movie released for restricted viewing with ‘A’ certificate.

Lyrics of the five songs in this movie were penned by Indivar and music was composed by Usha Khanna.

Suresh Wadkar, Hemlata, Anuradha Paudwal (wrongly spelled Paduwal in the titles of the movie) gave their voices to the songs in this movie.

(Source of Information for this post – I have used the various YT links giving biographical details of Suresh Wadkar, then his Interview available here, which I would like interested readers should visit and listen to his story in his own voice.
I also referred to Wikipedia and other information on internet and songs in my memory 
When I thought of this write up considering the information available I thought I would be able to send it before 7th Aug, however after going into the details of his life and career I doubt whether I have been able to do justice to the feelings and thoughts going in my mind, as the enormity of his talent, his struggle and what he has achieved is such that it requires a detailed study or a ‘full biography’ in the form of a book (at least for me).

Let us now enjoy today’s song … and savour this ‘magical voice’ of Suresh Wadkar. I would once again request readers to forgive me if I have from my side not been to that level in bringing this biographical sketch here. For me the memories of the voice and nostalgia, of course, is the first thing close to my heart and this is my endeavor in return for all the beautiful memories this voice and the other voices have given to me …

Earlier we had the following four posts in this series, I am listing them below for interested readers …

Maa ne kahaa thha o beta
Haseen haseen waadiyon
Jin khoja tin paayiyaan
Yoon lagne lagi aajkal zindagaani

Audio (Full version)

Video (partial)

Song=Dhuaan sa uthha dekho chaaron oar (Bhayaanak)(1979) Singer-Suresh Wadkar, Lyrics-Indeewar, MD-Usha Khanna

Lyrics

O o o o
Ho o o o o o
Ho o o o o
O raani ee

Dhuaan saa utthha aa
Dekho chaaron oar re ae
Kahin kho na jaaye
Mera chitchor re ae
Mera chitchor
Dhuaan saa utthha aa aa
Dekho chaaron oar re ae
Kahin kho na jaaye
Mera chitchor re ae
Mera chitchor
Dhuaan saa utthha aa
Dekho chaaron oar re ae ae ae

Ghirne lagey hain
Man pe andhere
Ghirne lagey hain
Man pe andhere
Phoolon ke roop mein
Baithhe lutere
Dil to hai komal
Duniya kathor re ae
O o o o o o
Dhuaan saa utthha aa
Dekho chaaron oar re ae ae ae

Jeena safal ho
Tujhko jo paa loon
Jeena safal ho
Tujhko jo paa loon
Parde mein dil ke
Tujhko chhupaa loon
Dekh le naa roop tera
Koi bhi chakor re ae
O o o o o o
Dhuaan say utthha aa
Dekho chaaron oar re ae ae ae

Husn-o-wafaa ka
Aisaa tu sangam
Husn-o-wafaa ka
Aisaa tu sangam
Tujhko jo dekhoon
Mit’taa hai har gham
Tod de na koyi
Teri meri dor re ae
O o o o o o o
Dhuaan say utthha aa
Dekho chaaron oar re ae ae ae
Kahin kho na jaaye
Mera chitchor re ae
Mera chitchor
Dhuaan say utthha aa aa
Dekho chaaron oar re ae ae ae
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Devnagri Script lyrics(Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
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ओ ओ ओ ओ
हो ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ
हो ओ ओ ओ ओ
ओ रानी ई

धुंआ सा उठा आ
देखो चारों ओर रे ए
कहीं खो न जाए
मेरा चितचोर रे ए
मेरा चितचोर

धुंआ सा उठा आ आ
देखो चारों ओर रे ए
कहीं खो न जाए
मेरा चितचोर रे ए
मेरा चितचोर
धुंआ सा उठा आ
देखो चारों ओर रे ए ए ए

घिरने लगे हैं
मन पे अँधेरे ए
घिरने लगे हैं
मन पे अँधेरे ए
फूलों के रूप में
बैठे लूटेरे ए
दिल तो है कोमल
दुनिया कठोर रे ए
ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ
धुंआ सा उठा आ
देखो चारों ओर रे ए ए ए

जीना सफल हो
तुझको जो पा लूं
जीना सफल हो
तुझको जो पा लूं
परदे में दिल के
तुझको छुपा लूं
देख ले ना रूप तेरा
कोई भी चकोर रे ए
ओ ओ ओ ओ ओ
धुंआ सा उठा आ
देखो चारों ओर रे ए ए ए

हुस्न-ओ-वफ़ा का
ऐसा तू संगम
हुस्न-ओ-वफ़ा का
ऐसा तू संगम
तुझको जो देखूं
मिटता है हर ग़म
तोड़ दे न कोई ई
तेरी मेर दो रे ए
धुंआ सा उठा आ
देखो चारों ओर रे ए ए ए
कहीं खो न जाए
मेरा चितचोर रे ए
मेरा चितचोर
धुंआ सा उठा आ आ आ
देखो चारों ओर रे ए ए ए